The Worm Turns: GOP Politicians & Donors Say ‘No’ To More Trump

Donald Trump, who announced his candidacy for the 2024 Republican nomination for president last night in Florida at a low-energy event, may not get the reception from his party he was expecting. Several former high level GOP office holders and megadonors have already begun to either distance themselves from TFG, or outright criticize him. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie garnered big applause at the annual meeting of Republican governors on Tuesday after blaming Trump for Republican failures in the last three elections. From Axios:

Christie, a former Trump ally who is now considering his own 2024 presidential campaign, said voters “rejected crazy” in the 2022 midterms and that Republicans lost because of bad candidates.

But he didn’t just harp on last week’s disappointing results: Republicans lost in 2018, 2020 and 2022, Christie said, with Trump the one constant who has weighed the party down across all three election cycles.

Christie also noted that, since he left his role as former chair of the Republican Governors Association in 2014, there were 31 GOP governors. Now, there are 26 — and Christie put the blame on Trump and his endorsed candidates. https://twitter.com/jonathanvswan/status/1592558279095615490 Megadonor Andy Sabin reportedly told CNBC, “I’m not going to give (Trump) a f—ing nickel.” He’s already given $55,000 to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s PAC and says he’ll back DeSantis if he runs for prez in 2024. Axios reports that megadonor Stephen Schwarzman — chairman, CEO and co-founder of private-equity giant Blackstone — has already declared he’s defecting Trump for the 2024 presidential race. Billionaire Ken Griffin called Donald Trump a “three-time loser” and said he hoped the former president would “see the writing on the wall” and not run for the White House again. The Federalist founder and Fox News regular Ben Domenech said yesterday that Trump has “served his purpose” and Republicans “would prefer now to move on.” https://twitter.com/bdomenech/status/1592578959585124352 Even Trump’s daughter Ivanka has politely bowed out of another round of politics after serving in her dad’s White House. “I love my father very much. This time around, I am choosing to prioritize my young children and the private life we are creating as a family. I do not plan to be involved in politics,” she said in a statement obtained by ABC News. The editorial board of the conservative Wall Street Journal wrote, “The GOP, and the country, would be best served if Mr. Trump ceded the field to the next generation of Republican leaders to compete for the nomination in 2024.” The editors of the conservative National Review answered Trump’s announcement with a terse op-ed with closed with, “A firm, unmistakable, No.” https://twitter.com/NRO/status/1592719809460211714 For his part, DeSantis is trying to steer clear of talking about running in 2024 since he JUST won re-election in Florida last week. When asked about the next presidential race, he told reporters, “We just finished this election. People just need to chill out a little bit on some of this stuff.” https://twitter.com/Fla_Pol/status/1592920468750827520